A Kunqu Masterpiece and its Interpretations: Tanci (The Ballad) from Hong Sheng’s Changsheng Dian (Palace of Lasting Life)

Abstract

A KUNQU MASTERPIECE AND ITS INTERPRETATIONS: TANCI (THE BALLAD) FROM HONG SHENG’S CHANGSHENG DIAN (PALACE OF LASTING LIFE) JOSEPH S. C. LAM University of Michigan ‘‘Cangliang’’ 蒼凉 (desolate) is how many Kunqu 崑曲 connoisseurs would characterize Tanci 彈詞 (The ballad), scene 38 of Hong Sheng’s 洪昇 (1645–1704) Changsheng dian 長生殿 (The palace of lasting life; henceforth CSD),1 one of the last masterpieces (jiezuo 杰作; jingdian 經典) of chuanqi 傳奇 drama.2 Since 1688, the year CSD was completed, Tanci was and still is regularly performed by both amateur and professional performers as vocal music (qingchang 清唱) or as an independent scene-play (zhezixi 折子戲). Historical performances of Tanci and other CSD scene-plays mark critical developments in the history of Kunqu in Qing (1644–1911) and Republican China (1911–1949),3 as well as more recent decades. 2 As can be seen in the commentaries on the Confucian classics that permeated traditional Chinese culture and scholarship, and the historical discussions of specific works of Chinese calligraphy, literature, music, painting, and other artistic and cultural expressions, China has a long tradition of canonizing and examining exemplary and representative works as masterpieces. Recently, China enthusiastically embraced the quite broad and flexible conception of ‘‘masterpiece’’ involved in UNESCO’s concept of ‘‘Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage’’ (ICH), which includes the importance of safeguarding such masterpieces. The first list of these masterpieces, promulgated in 2001 by UNESCO, included Kunqu. For a representative introduction to Chinese theories and practices of ICH, see Wang Wenzhang 王文章, Feiwuzhi wenhua yichan gailun 非物質 文化遺產概論 (An overview of the concept of intangible cultural heritage; Beijing: Xinhua shudian, 2006). Approaching the different versions of Tanci as masterpieces of ICH facilitates the detailed examination of their structural features and artistic meanings. 1 For example, in the episode on ‘‘Cangliang zhi mei’’ 蒼涼之美 (The beauty of desolation) in her CCTV series on Kunqu, Youyuan jingmeng 遊園驚夢 (Stroll in the garden, the interrupted dream), Yu Dan 于丹 uses Tanci as a prime example. The series is available on DVD and the episode is available online as ‘‘Shuoxi: Changsheng dian Tanci’’ 說戲: 長生殿彈詞 (Talking of plays: Tanci of Changsheng dian), http://xiyou.cntv.cn/v-fc636950-f4cc-11e1-b091a4badb4696b6 .html, accessed August 1, 2014. For another example of such a characterization of Tanci, see Anonymous, ‘‘Changsheng dian: Tanci’’ 長生殿彈詞’’; http://baike.baidu.com/view/ 2404234.htm; uploaded by Anonymous on unknown date; accessed on July 15, 2014. 3 A well-known saying describing eighteenth-century Suzhou, Jiajia ‘‘Shoushiqi,’’ huhu ‘‘Bu tifang’’ 家家收拾起, 户户不提防, makes the claim that the sound of the singing of Tanci and another Kunqu scene-play can be heard in ‘‘every household.’’ It refers to the two plays by the opening characters of their first arias. On this saying, and how it has been frequently been misinterpreted, see Liu Zhizhong 劉致中, ‘‘Jiajia ‘shoushiqi,’ huhu ‘bu tifang’ kaobian’’ 家家收拾 起, 户户不提访考辩 (On ‘‘In every family there is [the sound of] ‘Packing up,’ In every dwelling there is [the sound of] ‘Unexpectedly’’’), Xiqu xuebao 戲曲學報 (Theater journal) 1(2007): 1–22. CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 33.2 (December 2014): 97–120 # The Permanent Conference on Chinese Oral and Performing Literature, Inc. 2014 DOI: 10.1179/0193777414Z.00000000022 What makes Tanci an unforgettable expression of desolation? Who would enjoy a Kunqu performer in the old man role (laosheng 老生) singing, by himself, ten or twelve arias in succession and for thirty or so minutes on stage? Why would elite, erudite, and senior men sing selected arias from Tanci for themselves and their friends in social gatherings?4 A commonly heard answer is that the scene-play is a masterpiece, one that exemplifies the best of Kunqu, a 600-year old tradition of classical Chinese opera. The genre seamlessly integrates literary, musical, kinetic, and visual expressions into an exquisite multi-media representation and negotiation of Chinese culture and history.5 To illustrate and nuance this answer, which evokes but does not explain salient facts and values of the Chinese performing arts, this essay examines Tanci as a literary-musical masterpiece of Chinese operatic creativity, performance, and reception. Tracing Hong Sheng’s biography and creative process for the sceneplay , analyzing its dramatic and notated texts, and reviewing past and current performances, this essay posits that Tanci exists not only as a masterpiece of...